新闻业的归来

张译允

原作者：迈克尔·奥里斯基（Michael Oreskes）编译者：张卓

编者按
    2015年岁末，清华大学爱泼斯坦对外传播研究中心联合美国哈佛大学尼曼新闻实验室（Nieman Journalism Lab）约请世界各地的新闻学院院长、知名教授和媒体一线人士对2016年全球新闻传播的新趋势发表了看法。我们对访谈记录进行了整理，编译成中文以飨读者。
    摘要我们那一代人挖空心思融合传统价值与新兴媒体的尝试将淡出舞台。但这一精神会被数字原住民一代继承，促使他们找到长久可持续的办法来灌溉新闻业的成长和考虑消费者的需求。
    新闻业正在归来。新闻业的回归必须委身于科技与内容的融合，否则将无异于纸上谈兵。在今天这个“内容”无限的世界，拥有出色的内容尤其重要。产量创造不了价值——但质量可以。机巧的掌握和修辞的使用也许可以适用一时，但我们最终必须依靠提供必要资讯、独创报道以及伟大叙事来赢得这场胜利。这才是新闻工作的真谛。
    没有什么比年度巨片更能抓住时代精神。电影《聚焦》（Spotlight）（《聚焦》是一部由“普利策奖”新闻改编的电影，揭露了美国天主教学校中的男童性侵案。）赞颂了记者和编辑们的英雄主义。它是新闻主题电影中的基础脚本。新闻行业中最核心的技术优势曾是也会继续是跑腿能力（虽然它在现在看来有时呈现为一种虚拟的形式）。做新闻的人需要勇气。但它同样需要毅力和来自同侪、组织的支持。
    老牌的新闻机构在整装重来。经过了多年的内部争斗，《华盛顿邮报》和《纽约时报》恢复了以往的良性竞争，再次开始争做最优质的“全国性报刊”。甘尼特集团（Gannett Co.）和美国国家公共电台也将他们的杠杆向地方新闻倾斜（一些地方报纸或者国家公共电台的分支），通过深入扎根社区来提供有特色的新闻内容。这个鲜活却缺乏管理的非盈利新闻业分支注定会遇上双生兄弟般的新闻分销与可持续性问题。新媒体机构像往常一样，在建立新闻准绳和新闻分工方面做出了巨大的进步。原创报道已经成为他们业务的一部分。而互相抄袭和重复已经不再能够满足新闻生产的需求。
    我们有自己的观点，这是毋庸置疑的。比如，把唐纳德·特朗普刻画成一个“虚伪的骗子”这种做法到底是故意中伤还是陈述事实。（我认为是刻意中伤，本·史密斯则认为这一刻画为事实所印证。）这些有益的讨论都说明，在这个枯朽的新闻生态系统中，观点之间还能保持相互独立性。最令人激动的是，数字原住民一代正逐渐掌管新闻业的领导权。我们那一代人挖空心思融合传统价值与新兴方式的尝试将淡出舞台。但这一精神会被数字原住民一代继承，促使他们找到长久可持续的办法来灌溉新闻业的成长和考虑消费者的需求。在处理挑战的过程中，我们也面临着新的希望。证据如此充分地显示，千禧一代的消费者对新闻与信息的消费需求比他们的上一辈在这一年纪时更加迫切。消费需求并不构成现在新闻业的挑战。
    平台的广阔性无疑提供了更大的操作空间，可以在营收和受众之间进行优化调配。但不管怎样，他们都在寻找使品质新闻与读者高度匹配的分发渠道。传统媒体机构的瓦解仍在继续。可人们也心知肚明，这种瓦解内在的革新本质不可能使新闻业沉沦。不久前，幸得两名自由撰稿人的坚持，麦克唐纳案的尸检报告和枪击视频才得以向民众公开。这一前一后的爆料中，哪一次有新闻机构的身影？不得不说，这是个好问题。
    传统报纸和广播最难以面对的挑战之一是告别过去。在许多新闻采编部内部，顽固守旧的习惯成了革新业务的绊脚石。然而，外面的世界却从未停止改变。一些传统媒体机构开始调整自己以应对今天的新闻业带来的挑战。不能应对挑战的传媒机构将会发现，一些其他的行业和分支——从新兴    新闻机构到自由撰稿人、地方公共电台、高等院校及非盈利团体——他们已经准备好分一杯羹了。

    迈克尔·奥里斯基是美国国家公共电台的新闻高级副总裁和主编。
    注：本文由张卓编译，系清华大学新闻与传播学院2013级硕士生。转载请注明：来自微信公号“清华全球传播”清华大学爱泼斯坦对外传播研究中心主办
来源网址: http://www.niemanlab.org/2015/12 ... the-comeback-trail/

原文

Journalism on the Comeback Trail
Journalism is on the comeback trail. It is dawning on everyone that great tech without great content (read: journalism) doesn’t get you there. Standing out is what really matters, especially in a world where the supply of “content” is nearly infinite. Volume doesn’t create value — quality does. Tricks and tropes work for a while, but eventually original reporting, great storytelling and indispensable information win. That’s journalism.
Nothing captures the zeitgeist better than the hit movie of the year. Spotlight honors the heroism of spreadsheets. It’s the foundational story. The most important technological advance in journalism was and still is shoe leather (although it’s sometimes virtual now!). Journalism takes courage. But it also takes perseverance and the support of colleagues and organizations.
The old content companies are rallying. The Washington Post and The New York Times, after years of internal struggle, have resumed their healthy competition to be the best and most widely read “national newspaper.” Gannett and public radio are working hard to leverage their network of local news operations (newspapers or NPR member stations) to offer distinctive journalism with deep community roots. The energetic if disorganized sector of not-for-profit journalism is honing in on the twin problems of distribution and sustainability. And new media organizations, as we used to call them, are making real strides in establishing serious standards and disciplined journalistic process. Original reporting has become a part of their operations. It isn’t enough anymore to just crib and reshare in an echo chamber.
We will have arguments, of course. Like whether characterizing Donald Trump as a “mendacious liar” is name-calling or connecting the dots (I vote name-calling, Ben Smith says the facts support it). Those are the healthy debates of a robust news ecosystem where independence includes being independent of each other. Most exciting, the digital natives are moving into leadership positions in journalism. My generation’s struggle to integrate new ways with old values will pass from the scene. They will inherit from us the continuing struggle to build sustainable ways to support journalism and engage with our consumers. But in tackling this challenge there is new hope (to reference another hot movie strand of the moment). The evidence is overwhelming that the millennial generation is consuming more news and information than earlier generations at this point in their lives. Demand for journalism is not our challenge.
The great platforms continue to exercise great power, of course, siphoning both revenue and audience connection. But each in their way is searching for ways to make first-class journalism available to people who want it. The collapse of some legacy news orgs will continue. But it’s clear now that this creative destruction will not kill journalism. It was two freelance reporters who forced the release of the autopsy and then the video of the shooting of Laquan McDonald in Chicago. Where were the big news organizations, one of them asked? It’s a good question.
One of the major challenges to legacy newspapers and broadcasters is memory. In many newsrooms, clinging to what once was is standing in the way of what can be. The world, however, is moving on. Some legacy organizations are stepping up to the challenges of today’s journalism. Those who can’t will find that others — from new news organizations to freelancers, local public radio, universities, and not for profit groups — are ready to step in.
Michael Oreskes is senior vice president of news and editorial director of NPR.


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